Teavivre

I received a free sample several months ago, and life slipped in and put me on a bit of a tea-drinking hiatus, but a fall breeze had me craving Jasmine tea. So lucky for me, I had TeaVivre’s Jasmine Silver Needle in my cupboard.

Very well balanced flavoring. The jasmine scent does not overpower, and it doesn’t evolve into being a “sugary-sweet” note as with other producers. I could actually still pick up on the flavor of the leaves themselves, and it drinks very smoothly rather than forcing the cheeks to prepare for “syrup wince” – what happens when I try teas that are too sweet for my liking.

It’s persuaded me to re-think whether I’ll buy the other producer’s Jasmine pearls again. Really hit my preference zone for richness, delicacy, and balance.

Pictures and more detail at my blog: http://bit.ly/PaBpEq

I’m a little late to the party, but I thought I would brew this up and see what I thought. My milk oolong experience is limited, but this was the first official flavored one I’ve tried. I was surprised to see that they wanted me to use 10g for 8’oz. That’s a lot of leaf (and a good chunk of my sample), but if you insist Teavivre… I was also surprised to see it wanted boiling water. Aren’t you supposed to use less than boiling for oolongs?

Anyway, the tea itself is not bad. It’s creamy and buttery like other oolongs in the past. It’s not blowing my mind, though. There is a little bit of vegetal taste too. I wish you didn’t have to use so much leaf, too. Maybe I overdid it? I’m interested to see how the rest of the steeps turn out.

YUMMM! Just got my package and ripped right into this one. The first brew was a delightful green tea. It reminded me of the green tea served at sushi bars in Japan, except higher quality. The leaves were also so large and long, I was so surprised. Both the tea and the tea leaves smell wonderful.

At first it had a typical green tea smell, then as it cooled it somehow smelled spicier, I’m not sure how to explain it. The flavor was rich and woodsy.

The second steep was more seaweedy and grassy, but not in a bad way at all. I’m very glad I bought a lot of it because I can see it becoming a staple. Would recommend it to anyone who likes green tea.

As is my custom with many oolongs, I chose to utilize a gaiwan in the tasting of this tea. Something about the methodical pouring of dry leaves, rinsing them, watching them begin to expand, and putting them through multiple steepings of gong fu-style brewing is, in a way, calming. The rinsing reveals that this tea is quite nutty and perhaps a bit fruity in aroma. I eagerly begin the steeping.

A pale yellow liqueur results from the first infusion. The smell is very intensely oolong. For a first, short steeping, I am actually surprised, pleasantly so. The flavor is developing, but more than just a week infusion. It has body and character – that much I can already see. The nuttiness, which I had detected in the smell from the freshly-rinsed leaves, shines through the flavor a bit. as well. I turn on some music that is completely at odds with tea tasting (electro house), and I somehow find it conforming to my tea session.

The second steeping I find to be nutty, creamy, and well-rounded in flavor. The color remains the same, and the leaves have opened wide. The smell is smooth and very aromatic.

In the third steeping, the most flavor thusfar reaches my tongue. It would seem as though the flavor truly has gotten bolder over the course of this steeping. The slightest hint of vegetal leanings is present, but really takes a backseat to the other delicious flavors. I am certain that this tea has a few more steepings in it, and it makes for a really nice tie guan yin that is worth tasting. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would rate it a 90/100.

Pretty vegetal, but still smooth. Not a bad tea.

Sipdown! I’ve been saving my last little tuocha of this tea for just the right moment. This isn’t an everyday tea for me but sometimes I really crave this earthy, mushroomy, brothy tea. This is only the 2nd puerh I’ve ever had, so I’m looking forward to getting another in my cupboard to try. Can anyone recommend a good beginner puerh? Besides this one, I’ve also tried another from Teavivre- I think it was called Ripened Aged Puerh? I liked that one too. I may just reorder one or the other.

I love these cute little tuochas! I made the mistake of using the term ‘tea cake’ in the hearing of my daughter and I had to make sure she didn’t try to eat one! Hehe
I rinsed this tea for about 20 seconds, then steeped for one minute. The first steep was very mellow and complex; the only word I can think of to describe it is wood. But, that makes it sound bad. It’s a good thing!
Second steep, 2 min. This was my favorite steep! Still had that woodsy taste but much sweeter.
3rd steep was a combination of flavors of the first two, but I think I needed to steep it a little longer as it seemed to lose the complexity it had at first.
This is a comforting brew that I enjoyed! Thank you to Teavivre and Angel for another generous sample from them!

Fantastic. So good, earthy, smooth. Not fishy at all.

Back to school, which also means back to tea because I have way more free time on my hands to brew and review. My housemate and I had a mini tea party with this one today. She loves black tea whereas I am picky so I figured that way I’d be able to give a more complete review.

This was my first black pearl tea so I don’t have anything to compare it to, but it was fun to watch steep! I decided it was a worthy tea to christen my cast iron pot (which didn’t make watching the unfurling all that easy in hindsight).

For a pure black, by my taste, it was good. I am usually turned off by the astringency of black tea, but this one was smooth and not at all bitter! To me it tastes like a combination of hay and chocolate, which sounds weird but tastes decent. I think that I may have let it steep for too long (3 minutes or so) and that could be where the earthy hay taste came from. Overall, for a black tea, I did enjoy it, but it won’t be a tea that I crave.

My housemate found it too earthy for her taste, compared to other dragon pearls that she’s tried.

Upon second steep, I have to up the rating! The second steep was much more sweet and chocolate-y and less earthy. I think I got the brewing time right this time!

Thank you to Angel at Teavivre for the latest round of samples! I cannot wait to try them all in the next few days!

This is a lot better the second time around. I think I used the wrong temp last time (which never helps) Definitely very tasty :D

I probably just dumped too much into my infuser… I’ll let it cool down and then add some extra water and see if it’s better. It’s not bad I’m just not sure if I like it.

So I steeped this for 8 minutes. I taste buttery corn mostly. It’s a nice oolong and I definitely recommend it.

Pretty tasty :D

I’m having another cup of this :D I should mention that this and a few others were sample sizes which is why they are not in my cupboard :D

This is quite tasty! This is also my first milk oolong since the DT version which I didn’t like (although I may have screwed that one up as it was my very first oolong ever)

hmmm… I don’t think I like this one… it does leave a nice feeling in the mouth afterwards though. Oh well I have many more teas to try :D

It’s a beautiful morning! And it’s just the perfect morning for some green tea. I’ve been in a gorgeous mood lately partly due to these steroids I’ve been on for this crazy skin rash I got a few weeks ago. At first I was on a very high dose and was extremely moody. One second I was happy and laughing, the next I was very depressed and crying for no reason. I don’t think the steroids and my anxiety go very well together. Anyhow my dose is much lower now and I’ve just got tons of energy without the extreme mood swings. Woohoo!

I wanted so badly to put up my Christmas tree yesterday. I know I know, it’s too early! But hear me out. When Nathan (boyfriend) and I bought it three years ago it was our first Christmas together and we were living in Texas at the time. I’ll never forget that part of our life together. Everything was so new and we were so fearless and free. So far away from our families having this crazy adventure together in Texas. We were so unbelievably happy even though things were tougher back then. That was the best Christmas of my life. Just me, Nathan, and Nixon (our first rat). No stress over where we had to be on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day – just the three of us together enjoying the holiday in our pajamas. We had a great Christmas too. Nathan got me a Zune HD and I got him a PS3. Nixon got a brand new cage and tons of stuff to fill it with. I’d just love to go back to that time.

The next year we were living with my parents after having just moved back home from Texas so our tree was in storage. And it sat there all through the holiday season. This year I can’t wait to get that tree out and put it up! I don’t think three or four weeks to enjoy it will be enough this year! So I don’t care what anyone says, that tree is going up either tomorrow or the next day. Ahhh…memories

I’ve been making everything I can get my hands on in my gaiwan lately so of course I opted for gaiwan style here this morning. I’ve got time to really sit back and enjoy making this tea. I was a little surprsied by the brewing guide on Teavivre’s website. 4 steeps: rinse, 20s,40s,1m20s,2m. Only four steeps? And such long last steeps? I think I’m just going to wing this one because 2 minutes seems like a long time.

I really like this green. It’s so easy to drink. It’s just the right amount of vegetal goodness without any bitterness at all. It’s very smooth, relaxing, even a little buttery.

I’m on the fifth steep now and I’ve steeped this one for about 40 seconds. The wet leaves smell like spring time and look like fresh cut grass. The liquor is smiling yellow and it makes me really happy. The taste is a bit light (I’ll steep longer on the next one) but still very good. I’m finding a little nuttiness in this steep which is interesting. Something I hadn’t noticed before.

On to steep number six and I’m going to let this one go for a whole minute and see what happens. Learning how to use my gaiwan is so much fun to me. I’ve finally realized that you don’t need to be perfectly strict about the whole thing, trying to time everything down to the exact second per the steeping suggestions. I can just sorta go with the flow. It’s fun because you really learn about the tea this way by experiencing it in different layers. Seeing what a few extra seconds or grams will do to change the overall experience. A minute was a nice choice here. The nuttiness is coming out more and that smooth profile is getting a little more grassy. Delicious!

The first thing I have to say is that the sample size sent to me was so generous! There is enough tea for multiple pots rather than just a cup or two! I was very pleased when my sample box arrived =)

I really enjoyed this tea this afternoon while watching documentaries on netflix. I’m not too farmiliar with green teas, but this was very plesant. A nice clean, fresh flavor but not too overwhelmingly grassy or anything I was worried green tea would be like.

I do think I could have used more leaves though. I used 1 tsp per cup of water and got a very light flavor on the first steep. Second steep I increased the temp and steep time a little and got a better result.

I think I can see more green teas in my future…

Thank you Angel at Teavivre for the sample. I’ve had a few milk oolongs before. But this one was a little different, more milky and that is awesome. There is a sweet note to this tea too. Really all kinds of great flavors are coming out of this tea and I really love it! So much that I made a small pot of it for myself. I’m hoping to get another infusion out of it later tonight!

After sitting with it and enjoying it a little more (MIL was over offering her advice ‘sigh’) it has helped to calm me down a bit and center myself so I can enjoy the rest of my day.

Tea provided by Teavivre for review

First through seven steeps were consistently bold in flavour. I enjoyed how potent the liquor tasted. Lately I haven’t been drinking any strong black teas. This one had a very bold, earthy and malty flavour.

I’m looking forward to trying this western style (probably steeped in a mug). That being said, bold black teas are not my favourite. They’re not something I’d drink all the time, but it’s still a pleasant experience.

100ml purion teapot, 2tsp, rinse and 7 steeps (with Teavivre’s suggested times: 10s, 20s, 30s, 50s, 1m10s, 1m30s, 2m)

Edit: tried this western style, and it’s still quite nice and bold.

My adult son who is visiting for the weekend and I sipped this excellent green tea this afternoon-it was my second experience with it as a result of ordering the green tea assortment samples. I am picky about green teas, but I am excited about this one, and my son thought it was wonderful also. It has everything I am looking for in a quality Long Jing. Tomorrow we will try the Superfine Pre Ming Dragonwell for comparison. I used the whole 7 gm packet with 8 oz. 175 water.1st steep 1 min, then 2nd and 3rd steeps 2 min

This is just a short note to say I decided to experiment and put 8 gms from sample packets in 16 oz cold water for cold-steeping. 5 hrs later, I tasted it. Whoa! This packs a punch when steeped this way-very bold vegetal taste. I don’t know if it’s spinach or green beans. I do prefer this hot though. Cold, I had to dilute it a little and sweeten it, I guess being so vegetal didn’t go over for me as well in an iced tea as it did in a hot tea.